Globally, less than four percent of music producers are women—a figure that mirrors the experience in Kenya, where female producers remain a rare sight behind the soundboard.
The industry’s technical side still leans heavily male, making stories like that of Viola Karuri, Emma Nzioka and Labdi Ommes both inspiring and revealing.
These young musicians' journeys offer a roadmap: talent, consistency, and support networks.
The Kenya Association of Music Producers (KAMP) reports that less than 10 percent of its members are women.
However, in recent years there seems to be a rising number of Kenyan women producers but the numbers are still worth mentioning as compared to Kenyan women who are film producers.
BDLife spoke to a few Kenyan women producers who are trying to break this jinx.
Viola Karuri (Singer and producer)
Four years after graduating from Berklee College of Music in the US, in 2004, Ms Karuri self-produced her first album, “Everything”, in 2008.
But it was not until 2017 that she stepped into the limelight when she adapted the mega-hit "Despacito" by Luis Fonsi featuring Daddy Yankee into Swahili.
Two years later, the singer and music producer would make history by becoming the first woman producer in Coke Studio – a television programme which featured studio-recorded music performances by established and emerging artists.
For the longest time, she was the only known woman music producer in Kenya until few others began to emerge later on.
Why are there fewer women producers in Kenya?
The issue of scarcity of women music producers isn’t just a Kenyan thing, it’s a global pandemic. It has always been a very male-dominated industry.
In my class of that year at Berklee University, we were 45 out of which two were women, myself (Kenyan) and a Japanese. Women had been confined to just being singers, dancers or vixens.
However, over time I am seeing more and more women getting into these technical fields, now there are a few more women instrumentalists the likes of Ivy Alexander and Sheila Eve, music producers, sound engineers etc. I don’t know why it took that long.
A music producer is not necessarily a beat-maker (that has always been the perception) but a beat-maker can be a music producer.
A producer is a creative who is involved in the creation of a body of music work from the beginning to the end. A producer must have a good artistic ear, a touch of ‘this is good’.
You have two good beats for two written songs, so how do you decide which beat is good for which song? That’s where the producer’s creative element comes into play.
A producer plays a major part in decision-making to make an artiste's vision come to fruition.
A producer will pick the ideal beat maker, instrumentals, sound engineer, artiste collaborator and other decisions for a given artist project.
The music producer coordinates and supervises the production. One of the most popular producers who never created beats was Quincy Jones, he is arguably, I would say one of the best music producers of our time. He was also a gifted songwriter.
What prompted you to become a producer?
If you ask me why I got into music production, it’s not because I saw a woman producer somewhere but if you ask me why I wanted to become a singer, it’s because I saw a woman singer.
The people who influenced my musical career vocally were women, but the reason why I got into production was men. We (women) used to be mistreated in the studio by men and so I didn’t want to continue feeling helpless.
By mistreatment, there was a two-pronged approach. We were given substandard products and also experienced sexism.
Fresh from high school, I was in a girl group who wanted to do music and our parents supported us. At the particular studio where we were recording, there were two different kinds of people.
There was one who would hassle you as a young woman and there was the other who would look down upon you because you were not pretty ‘enough’ or rather polished compared to the one who is on campus.
So we would book studio sessions, early in advance but would be kept waiting as those who women who were deemed polished enough were prioritised. So when I got to Berklee College of Music in the US, I chose to major in music production.
How did you secure the Coke Studio deal?
I didn’t need an audition. The Coke Studio Music director knew of my work and there is a scarcity of women music producers and couldn’t think of anybody else other than myself.
And because they wanted a show that targeted women, a women-produced and performed show I fitted the bill. It was the season finale. Coke Studio was one of my best music productions a career highlight.
2.Emma Nzioka (Dj and Producer Coco Em)
Emma, known in her circles as Coco EM, worked as a photojournalist and moonlighted as a film location scout. Fast forward to present day, she is among the few international-touring Kenyan producers.
Barely a year after her bold move to quit a 9-5 job and venturing into being a full-time DJ in 2018, Boiler Room – the international live music streaming platform came calling and she headlined their True Music Africa Tour, Nairobi edition.
It was then that Emma was thrust into the global spotlight and ever since high-profile international gigs have followed her to date. When I first contacted her for this interview, the call failed.
“I am sorry the call failed, I am in Montreal at the moment, I am currently eight hours behind Nairobi time. Could we schedule a Google Meet perhaps?” she texted later on.
Emma isn’t your typical DJ, she is an alte DJ who crafted a reputation of playing house music, old school kwaito and kuduro music that has seen her traverse the world performing in Tunisia, South Africa, Switzerland, Israel, Canada, Uganda, you name it.
Emma Nzioka aka DJ Coco EM Performing during the Raha Rave in Nairobi in 2024.
Photo credit: Sila Kilpagat | Nation Media Group
At the height of the Covid-19 pandemic with travel restrictions, Emma began writing her self-produced debut EP (Extended Play) album titled Kilumi.
The EP carries seven songs and features other artistes MC Sharon, Wuod Baba, Ndunge Wa Kelele, Sisian, Kasiva, Janice Iche and Ladbi Ommes.
How did that leap to become a music producer come about?
The leap was from photojournalist to DJ and then production sort of came after all that. I was introduced to production by a Ghanaian DJ Gaffaci and unfortunately didn't retain any knowledge from his workshops because it all seemed so complex.
It was not until 2020 during Covid-19 that I decided to give it another try and thanks to the internet and a great producer friend KMRU (grandson of the late Joseph Kamaru) who told me about a free online course from Berklee School of Music, I got the hang of making beats. I started officially producing music in 2022 and so far I have self-produced Kilumi EP and another eight singles and remixes.
I have a full-length album coming out later this year.
There is a perception in Kenya that as long as one creates beats then one is a music producer. Is this correct?
A producer does a lot more than just create beats. They take care of recording sounds, vocals, and instruments, arranging and mixing these different tracks and sending a finished product to the mastering engineer.
The beatmaker makes the beats. I respect beatmakers because, without good beats, most artists would have no basis to create their bangers.
There aren’t that many women music producers in Kenya, why is that?
The music industry in general has been difficult for women to break into, but things are changing. Through my previous experience as a music production teacher at Santuri Electronic Music Academy and as part of a small collective I founded called Sim Sima, I have had the privilege of guiding women through their first steps in music production.
Through these programmes, I would estimate that no less than 30 women have graduated and are producing their own music. I feel that because they have not yet hit the limelight, they may still be invisible, as I am to many Kenyans, but they are there and they are good.
How difficult has the industry been for women?
I feel that men are more celebrated and the community is to blame, it is easier for them to pursue a career in the nightlife industry and it is taboo for women to do the same.
This is a barrier for women. I once ran a music production workshop in Mombasa with Santuri Electronic Music Academy.
We insisted on gender balance among those who registered. We targeted some women and encouraged them to come without much musical background.
In the end, we had 11 men and only one woman who had a hard time staying and later dropped out due to family. Aside from the obstacles posed by society's cultural beliefs and enforced gender roles, our government does not support enough cultural institutions that would be the avenues through which more producers could be trained and enter the market.
All creatives in this country are forced to find their way out. When I see countries spending money to build their urban cultural industries, I want to scream. We have talent here, but only those with the money and access have a good chance of succeeding.
What challenges have you faced as a music producer?
Getting the style of music I make accepted locally. We still prefer a lot of commercial music bongo, amapiano and gengetone. I do not make either of these genres, so, understandably, it is difficult to break into this market.
Working through the industry without management is also a challenge. While I may be good at creating the music, managing the business side of music is a task and support in this area goes a long way.
What makes a good producer?
A good producer creates a safe space for artistic expression. Artists need to be vulnerable to express themselves. He or she will have sufficient technical skills to operate the various DAWs and hardware needed to record artists, and instruments and lay down beats during a session. They may already have some sample ideas of beats for an artist to play around with.
In addition to technical skills for the gear, they may have a good understanding of music theory, understand different rhythm styles and understand the basic science of how sound behaves, this is key when in the mixing stages of music).
The industry sees you more as a DJ than a music producer?
Indeed, I am mostly known as a DJ. The sounds I create are not yet popular in the Kenyan music scene, so in my capacity as a producer, I operate under the radar.
I have also not released any visuals to accompany my music and as we have observed, pushing music through YouTube and TikTok has been a very successful model for artists to follow when releasing their work. I am looking to expand on this this year and next. The first EP I produced 'Kilumi' was well received internationally.
Due to the success of this EP, I was offered an album deal by a French music label called Infine.
3.Labdi Ommes (Instrumentalist and music producer)
Labdi Ommes is a rebel. She sings, composes and plays a traditional instrument Orutu. While studying fine art at the university, she was told it was taboo to play the one-stringed vertical fiddle instrument.
“That was reason enough for me to choose it,” she says.
Orutu was popular amongst the Luo community during harvest celebration sessions. Young men would challenge each other to it. Because of that, it was associated with violence and women were discouraged from playing it.
For being a rebel she has faced some tough experiences and backlash. Once someone shouted at her while on stage to “stop masturbating with the instrument”. It takes a thick skin to be a rule breaker.
But it can also be very fulfilling when touring the world to perform from Durban to London to Washington, Norway and by extension Europe.
How did you get yourself to start producing?
I would say I got into it out of curiosity and luck. I had a friend who invited me to a music lab at Santuri East Africa Music Academy in 2020 where there were lessons for emerging producers and I took interest.
What are some of your productions?
I have done a project with NatGeo, I have also self-produced two EPs that are out the latest is Pakruok and currently I am working on my new album and also producing for other artistes some new singles that I can’t reveal yet.
A beat maker or a music producer? Who is key?
Both are in the music realm. But again some songs are produced and don’t have beats. But if I were to choose I would go with a music producer because there is a lot more element to that discipline than it is with a beat maker.
Being a good music producer to some is a gifted talent that you don’t need school while to others you need to try things out and have the drive to learn. The barrier to production is access to tools which are quite pricey from the gadgets to the software and even good mentors.
Kenyan industry has few notable women producers, why is that?
I mean this question could go back to 100 BC, these are systems that have been there for a long time where production was dominated by men. What we need to focus on now is trying to change the narrative with spaces like SEMA which has been actively empowering more women to get into these spaces.
Could challenges be limiting Kenyan women from getting into production?
For me when I got the chance to learn production I didn’t hesitate because I was tired of the frustrations of relying a lot on other people to produce my music.
Some would take time to deliver the product or simply opt to frustrate you. It was like a power struggle but also I wanted to express myself more by pioneering a genre that only I understood.
That would have made it very difficult if I were to rely on another music producer. Generally, music production for women is a worldwide challenge, not many women think about it.
